Bank of Montreal CEO Darryl White's pay fell more than 12 per cent in 2024 after the bank missed financial targets.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Pay packages for the chief executive officers of Canada’s biggest banks largely increased in a year when volatile markets drove higher profits.
The CEOs of most of Canada’s biggest banks – Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T, Bank of Montreal BMO-T, Bank of Nova Scotia BNS-T and National Bank of Canada NA-T – received higher compensation in 2025, according to their annual proxy circulars released over the past week. At Royal Bank of Canada RY-T, however, CEO Dave McKay’s total pay fell slightly compared with 2024, but was still up significantly from previous years.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has not yet released its circular.
Base salary makes up a minor portion of a CEO’s compensation. Canada’s banks set targets for CEOs’ annual pay, which includes bonuses and stock awards. The banks then adjust the pay based on their results. The 2025 figures are for the banks’ fiscal years, which ended Oct. 31.
BMO CEO Darryl White received the largest pay increase of his peers so far. His compensation jumped to $17.04-million, a 55-per-cent increase from the previous year. His share and stock option awards of $10.7-million rose from $6.24-million, and his bonus rose to $3.54-million from $2.28-million.
BMO tops profit estimates on U.S. and capital markets strength
Last year’s pay bump was in stark contrast to the salary cut Mr. White took in 2024. His pay fell more than 12 per cent after the bank missed financial targets as it set aside more money for potential loan losses and dealt with higher costs while it integrated its acquisition of California-based Bank of the West.
BMO has been revamping its U.S. operations since buying the bank, and committed to improving its profitability, targeting 15-per-cent return on equity (ROE) by the end of 2027. In 2025, the lender booked adjusted ROE of 11.3 per cent.
For bonus purposes, BMO had set a target of increasing earnings per share by 10.6 per cent in 2025, which it surpassed at 21.8 per cent.
“Under Mr. White’s leadership, BMO has established itself as a leading North American bank bolstered by a historic expansion in the U.S. through the landmark acquisition of Bank of the West, increasing the bank’s scale and competitive position while exiting lower returning businesses,” the bank said in a filing.
Scotiabank’s CEO Scott Thomson was paid $13.24-million last year, a 28-per-cent increase from $10.32-million in 2024.Niv Shimshon/The Globe and Mail
Scotiabank paid CEO Scott Thomson a total of $13.24-million last year, a 28-per-cent increase from $10.32-million in 2024.
In 2023, Mr. Thomson unveiled a new strategy aimed at shifting more money to Scotiabank’s North American businesses, where it believes it has greater growth opportunities than in its Latin American operations.
“In an environment of growing geopolitical tensions and the rewiring of global trade relations, he has focused on what the bank can control, such as finding ways to work better, faster, safer, and at a lower cost, while improving our client experience,” the bank said in a filing.
TD paid Raymond Chun – who stepped into the role of CEO in February, 2025, after becoming chief operating officer in November, 2024 – $14.57-million last year. That was above his target pay of $11.38-million, and higher than the $13.38-million former CEO Bharat Masrani was paid in 2023.
TD Bank paid Raymond Chun, who became CEO in February, 2025, $14.57-million last year.Arlyn McAdorey/Reuters
The board cited Mr. Chun’s launch of TD’s turnaround plan and focus on remediating the lender’s anti-money-laundering failures.
In 2024, TD slashed Mr. Masrani’s pay by 88 per cent in the fallout of the anti-money-laundering investigation by U.S. regulators and the Department of Justice.
Last year, Mr. Masrani received $3.63-million in compensation. The bank said his salary was prorated for the period he served as CEO until February, 2025, and for his advisory role during TD’s AML remediation effort until July, 2025. Mr. Masrani also “continues to receive certain health and other benefits, office and administrative support,” it said.
Dave McKay, CEO of RBC, Canada’s largest lender, was paid $23.76-million last year, an 8.5-per-cent decrease from his prior-year compensation of $25.97-million in 2024. But in that year, he received a 61-per-cent raise, jumping from $16.13-million in 2023.
RBC paid CEO Dave McKay $23.76-million last year.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
In 2024, the bank more than doubled Mr. McKay’s bonus and boosted his stock and options awards. Part of the stock award was a special grant valued at $4-million, tied to the integration of HSBC Bank Canada, which the bank called a “once-in-a-generation acquisition.”
Excluding the special grant in 2024, Mr. McKay’s total compensation increased last year by $1.78-million. For the purposes of Mr. McKay’s bonus plan, RBC had set an adjusted net income target of $18.6-billion, but the bank earned more, $20.4-billion, bolstered by growth across its business segments.
In its filing, the bank’s board said the compensation reflects “Mr. McKay’s continued leadership in steering RBC through a turbulent environment while making strategic investments that strengthen the bank’s ability to support its clients and generate revenue for shareholders over the long term.”
Canada’s highest-paid CEOs made an average of $16.2-million in 2024, report says
The bank awarded Mr. McKay a short-term bonus of $7.44-million, up from his $6.67-million bonus for the 2024 fiscal year and 86 per cent above the target set by the bank. RBC gave Mr. McKay stock and option awards valued at $12.65-million, down from $15.82-million the year before.
After a review by an external consultant, the bank said it plans to raise compensation for board directors to $415,000 from $340,000 in recognition of the “heightened responsibilities of directors, the increased time commitment required, and the need for fair and competitive compensation to attract and retain highly qualified directors.”
National Bank CEO Laurent Ferreira made $13.45-million in 2025, a boost of 11 per cent from the prior year.Christinne Muschi/The Globe and Mail
National Bank CEO Laurent Ferreira made $13.45-million in 2025, rising by 11 per cent from the prior year.
The bank paid him a bonus of $2.31-million, down slightly from $2.59-million in 2024. National Bank gave him stock and option awards valued at $9.23-million, up from $7.78-million in 2024.
Last year, National Bank completed its largest acquisition to date, taking over Alberta-based Canadian Western Bank to expand its business across the country.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that for the purposes of Dave McKay's bonus plan, RBC had set an adjusted net income target of $16.2-billion. The bank had set a target of $18.6-billion. The article has also been updated to clarify that the $7.44-million awarded to Mr. McKay is a short-term bonus.